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RE: The economy must be improving
and of course the price of oil is dropping....and the price of gas is going up. At least somebodys making money. :)
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John & Angela
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05/24/12 07:51am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Diesel ford ranger
Then there is the little dirty secret...
Diesels are not necessarily any more durable or cheaper than gas.
Energy content, improved combustion efficiency, etc. are all pretty much wiped out by higher initial costs and higher prices for diesel fuel vs. gasoline.
Then the maintenance cost --- there is the killer ---- diesels are just very expensive to maintain and hard to find good techs.
Run those numbers, and the economics of diesel are questionable.
The average gas engine now easily does 150,000 miles, and the average diesel is struggling to hold on to 250,000 mile of durability, with the emissions stuff generally breaking pretty quickly after the warranty dies at 100,000 miles.
Many DPFs I have seen are life limited to 120,000 miles or so or less --- in actual use vs. properly maintained and used, where it might last over 150,000 miles.
Compare the cost of replacing a 3 way gas engine catalyst with a DPF with or without catalyst replacement, and it is very easy to see the diesel edge goes away fast --- unless it is a medium or heavy duty application.
One of the studies I am doing now is the loss in diesel efficiency in short trip / very cold climate cycles.... and the hit is so bad that the gasoline engine comes out ahead in many cases.
Very true in the case of the Little 3 cylinder mercedes diesel in the smart cars. Service life is expected at no more than 250,000 KMH, not miles. There are many out there with more than that but by that point, turbos and egrs are pretty much done.
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John & Angela
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05/22/12 08:17am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Diesel ford ranger
In recent history (last 10 or so years), every major car maker beside the known niches (VW, Mercedes, and top end light duty trucks, etc.) that tried to bring a mass market diesel into the North American (US/Canada) market got burned.
People yelp for diesels, but when it comes to writing the check, few sales materialized.
Examples:
2007 Grand Cherokee CRD
Other failed diesel products:
Smartcar
Nearly failed:
Mercedes / Dodge Sprinter (now available with gas engine.)
Abandoned:
Honda Odyssey Diesel
GM small diesel
Ford small diesel
In works:
Nissan/Cummins (2014)
Chrysler
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Chrysler is trying to do a diesel again for 2013, but the outcome is to be seen.
http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1058412_jeep-grand-cherokee-diesel-in-u-s-by-2013-report
Good post. VW still has a following and they seem to have done it without the urea thing. 50 MPG plus is common for everyone we know with a TDI. The smart car seems to be hanging on in the gas version in North America even though they selected the most pigish drive train available for it in the north american market. Those of us with the 70 MPG diesel versions are treasuring ours. The new 80 MPG version will never see a North American shore although there are some smart car owners buying the motor overseas and retroing them into their earlier versions. Having said that there has never been nor will there ever be a market for 2 seater high mileage commuters in the North American market. But if fuel ever gets expensive on this side of the pond I still think there may be a market for a little work truck with a small diesel. Until then it will be about more important things like Sirius Radio, backup sonar, backup cameras, parking aids and 0 to 60 times of 8 seconds for SUV's. :)
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John & Angela
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05/22/12 07:49am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Diesel ford ranger
I suspect our little diesel smart cars will last us for the next decade or so but personally a small diesel ford ranger would be an easy choice over a half ton for me if I was in the market. It would be an economical and handy little runabout probably achieving 50 mpg or better. We routinely achieve better than 70 mpg US with our little diesels. 50 should be an easy stretch for a little pickup with a little diesel.
Your dreaming. 50 MPG in a truck won't happen in a million years with the DPF and other stuff. Even the TDI does not get that here. And that is only with a 2.0 liter let along with a 3.whatever.
Agreed with a 3 liter anything. But I suspect there would be a market for a small pickup with 100 hp with decent torque and very little towing capacity and high mileage. Essentially a tdi with a box. Obviously no market in the US where it's all about HP but in country's where fuel is not cheap I would think there is a market for a no frills high mileage little truck.
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John & Angela
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05/22/12 07:09am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Diesel ford ranger
I suspect our little diesel smart cars will last us for the next decade or so but personally a small diesel ford ranger would be an easy choice over a half ton for me if I was in the market. It would be an economical and handy little runabout probably achieving 50 mpg or better. We routinely achieve better than 70 mpg US with our little diesels. 50 should be an easy stretch for a little pickup with a little diesel.
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John & Angela
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05/21/12 11:08pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Class A diesel pusher chassis....what's best
Chassis choice is just one factor in choosing a moho. The only thing we looked for re chassis was that it had a side radiator for ease of maintenance. There are various levels of all the chassis out there. A top end freightliner maybe better than a low end spartan etc etc etc.
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John & Angela
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05/21/12 08:49am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Where Do the Dead Norcold 1200 Refrigerators Go?
It sounds like you already have solar but we'll assume the power produced by your existing array is required for other things.
The residential will cost about a third as much to replace as an entire Norcold 1200 although you could just replace the cooling unit for less. Of course you would still have a 12 cubic foot inefficient fridge. If you take the savings from the purchase of a residential and then invest some of the difference in additional solar to run it you will have a better end result. Technically the residential can run off the output of a single 240 watt panel (into the proper sized battery bank of course). I would however recommend a solid 400 watt addition to your solar array as we all know some days are cloudy. At least 4 batteries is required although more is better. As far as storage goes, if you are not using the coach and the only thing the inverter has to run is the fridge it will have no problem keeping up power wise. These new fridges sip power.
Overall I would suspect your costs to convert to residential would still be less than a new Norcold. Its hard to look back after you make the change. :)
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John & Angela
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05/21/12 08:19am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Experience with protective shields for towing behinf RV
I have a road master guardian rock shield to give away. It was given to me and is taking up space in my shed. I tow a smart car on a trailer so have never had use for it. It is missing all the pins etc but the three main pieces are fine. Condition, Black :) No I won't ship, no I won't take any money. Just get them out of my shed. :)
I think its supposed to look something like this when it is on. The pieces are very light and tough.
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-tow-bars-dollies/rock-shield-guardian.jpg
Here is a picture of the three pieces in our driveway. Angela thought maybe she would try and sell them online. I on the other hand just want them out of the shed and not in a landfill. :)
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzUwWDEwMDA=/$(KGrHqF,!rUE-lIbreGRBPrsYsQJfQ~~48_35.JPG
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzUwWDEwMDA=/$(KGrHqZHJDoE-OK!LnP+BPrsY3PlOw~~48_35.JPG
I wonder if I am going to get into trouble for trying to give something away on the forum. Not sure of the rules in this situation. hmmm
Where are you in Canada? Are you coming south this summer? I'm in Ohio.
Answered in pm.
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John & Angela
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05/20/12 08:50pm |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: 25 L / 100 KM is this about average ?
We have seen as good as 20 and as bad as 29 with our 22 foot C (kinda like a super B) A LOT has to do with the speed. We try to keep it under a 100 and if we can 90. The slope of the front end is better than many so it is a little more slippery than the average C.
It gets infinite mileage when we are towing it behind our A...which is not really that often. :) The mileage of the A drops by about 1.5 though. Our C weighs about 10000 lbs very lightly loaded (when being towed).
http://www.johnandangela.ca/images/LittleRev/dcp_0801.jpg
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John & Angela
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05/20/12 08:01pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Experience with protective shields for towing behinf RV
I have a road master guardian rock shield to give away. It was given to me and is taking up space in my shed. I tow a smart car on a trailer so have never had use for it. It is missing all the pins etc but the three main pieces are fine. Condition, Black :) No I won't ship, no I won't take any money. Just get them out of my shed. :)
I think its supposed to look something like this when it is on. The pieces are very light and tough.
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-tow-bars-dollies/rock-shield-guardian.jpg
Here is a picture of the three pieces in our driveway. Angela thought maybe she would try and sell them online. I on the other hand just want them out of the shed and not in a landfill. :)
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzUwWDEwMDA=/$(KGrHqF,!rUE-lIbreGRBPrsYsQJfQ~~48_35.JPG
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzUwWDEwMDA=/$(KGrHqZHJDoE-OK!LnP+BPrsY3PlOw~~48_35.JPG
I wonder if I am going to get into trouble for trying to give something away on the forum. Not sure of the rules in this situation. hmmm
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John & Angela
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05/20/12 08:31am |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Went to look at a bigfoot
In defence of the salesman, he also has a boss. Although he may have wanted to keep it there on the chance that you show up his boss may have had a better prospect at the show. Without a deposit the salesman would have been powerless to hold it. One way around a situation like this is to give a deposit on a visa subject to seeing it.
Hope you find what your looking for. I have sold a few of them and they are nice units. Good luck in your hunt.
If that had happened to a GOOD salesman he would have been on the phone telling what had happened and saved the prospect the drive and called him when it was back on the lot!!!!!!!
( Retired Retail Store Manager and Sales Trainer)
Yah it would have been nice for him to know and save the trip. As far as driving it to the possible customers house, I'm not too sure too many sales managers would authorize that... or pay the fuel bill. :)
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John & Angela
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05/18/12 10:50pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Went to look at a bigfoot
In defence of the salesman, he also has a boss. Although he may have wanted to keep it there on the chance that you show up his boss may have had a better prospect at the show. Without a deposit the salesman would have been powerless to hold it. One way around a situation like this is to give a deposit on a visa subject to seeing it.
Hope you find what your looking for. I have sold a few of them and they are nice units. Good luck in your hunt.
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John & Angela
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05/18/12 08:45pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Replacing Refrigerator Cooling Coils, who's done it?
Another consideration would be to replace it with a residential. This is highly dependant on the coaches ability to have at least 4 batteries and an inverter. For many of us who have gone through the change there is no looking back. Its not for everybody but it might be right for you and the cost is comparable or less.
Good luck and if you need more info on this avenue feel free to ask. You will get lots of replies.
John
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John & Angela
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05/15/12 10:00pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: 96 jeep cherokee
We towed a 96 Grand Cherokee for 6 years. It was a great toad before we switched to the smart car.
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John & Angela
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05/15/12 08:55pm |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Another home run for Ford? 240 HP 2013 Escape...
Seems a definite move towards the old Grand Cherokee styling. I kinda like it. Dissapointing fuel econonmy but better than my old Grand Cherokee and not bad for an almost 4000 pound vehicle. An economy vehicle it is not but for those who like SUV's its kinda cool. When we needed an SUV the Jeep Grand Cherokee was the choice of many but they are now HUGE along with the Wrangler. It would be nice to see someone come out (in North America) with a diesel SUV getting in the 40's for mileage. With fuel as cheap as it is I don't think that will happen on this side of the pond any time soon but as fuel goes up I suspect some of the high mileage European talent will make it across the pond. Maybe they'll make a smart car diesel SUV at 70 mpg. :) After you drive a vehicle getting 70 plus mpg for a few years its hard to look at anything else....unless you need more than two seats. :)
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John & Angela
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05/14/12 07:59pm |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: NearCold 1201LR Quit/Repaired/Question?
Good morning.
I would not be running the fridge without the recall DC defeat in place. Even with ours in place the fridge came close to catching fire...quite apparent by all the charring we noticed when we removed the unit to put in a residential after it failed.
Consider turning it off until a professional can reassess the situation.
Be safe.
John
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John & Angela
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05/14/12 12:06pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Canada Trip
First, welcome to our country. I hope we are as good as hosts as you are when we are in your country.
1. Your dish will work OK in Canada although the footprint is weaker as you go north.
2. Our "rest stops" are not as big rig friendly as those in the US. Meaning that although it maybe a tourist rest stop it may not have a drive through setup. Try to "see" your way through before pulling in. The worst case sceenario is you end up unhooking.
3. I recommend crossing as far west as possible and then working your way east. Vancouver area is worth taking in.
4. Diesel is right around 4.75 per US gallon right now so budget accodingly. The dollar is about par. Canadian cash is easy to get at any bank machine.
Good luck. Happy trails.
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John & Angela
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05/13/12 11:55am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Towing Car on Trailer
We wanted to tow four down as well. We have towed a bunch of different vehicles in a few different ways and for us the trailer approach has been the best. The ability to back up and no road wear on the vehicle make towing on a trailer a hit for us. http://www.johnandangela.ca/images/smartcar/Towing%20setup/IMG_0430.jpg
Here is a folding trailer from the same company that made our trailer. These guys are awesome and represent their product very well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQm-JS1F0oE
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John & Angela
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05/13/12 08:10am |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: A Tale of 2 Bigfoot Campers
We live 10 minutes from the factory. Its nice to see them coming off the line again. There is also a 10.4 and 10.6 model.
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John & Angela
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05/13/12 07:41am |
Truck Campers
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RE: thinking of buying this m/h, any advise//
Check that the fridge recall is done. :)
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John & Angela
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05/13/12 07:36am |
Class A Motorhomes
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